08 May 2014

Alibaba IPO, the noise before the trading

Better get used to all the noise about the Alibaba IPO--it may not be until the end of 2014 when it actually begins trading:Alibaba files for IPO that could be biggest in history for tech company - San Jose Mercury News: "....There is no deadline for the company to begin trading, and some analysts expect trading may not happen until the fourth quarter of the year. Companies may announce pricing and begin a roadshow ---when executives hold meetings with potential investors to drum up interest in their company -- within 21 days of an IPO filing."Beyond net neutrality: The new battle for the future of the internet - Vox: "....There's also a danger that large internet service providers will abuse their monopoly power. Most of the leading American broadband companies also sell paid television services that compete directly with online streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Instant Video. Network owners might be tempted to relegate online video services to the slow lane to prevent them from becoming a competitive threat to their lucrative paid television businesses. Or they might charge competing services a big markup for access to the fast lane, ensuring that they won't be able to undercut them on price. A final problem is that a multi-tiered business model could give ISPs perverse incentives. An ISP might be tempted to make its slow lane slower — or at least not upgrade it very quickly — to encourage content companies to pony up for fast-lane status...."Protecting Net Neutrality and the Open Internet | Open Policy: "Today, Mozilla formally filed a request with the FCC to take a new path forward. We are asking the FCC to modernize its understanding of Internet access services, and apply its statutory authority for Internet data delivery services in a consistent and complete way. With our proposal, the FCC would be able to shift its attention away from authority questions once and for all, and focus instead on adopting clear rules prohibiting blocking and discrimination online...."

FCC commissioner says FCC “invented” new authority to regulate Internet | Ars Technica: ".... On the other side of the aisle, consumer advocacy groups have argued that Section 706 won't give the FCC enough power to prevent ISPs from discriminating against Web services that can't afford to pay for preferential treatment. Yesterday, the Mozilla Foundation joined many other groups in asking the FCC to regulate broadband with common carrier rules."​Google extends Intel love affair with new Bay Trail Chromebooks - CNET: " Google and Intel dabbled with a dalliance last year, but now they're all in as the two tech titans revealed a new lineup on Tuesday of more than 20 Intel-driven devices across several major hardware manufacturers that all run Chrome OS. The partnership sees Intel-powered Chromebooks jump from four Haswell devices announced in September to a vast range of Bay Trail, Haswell, and 4th generation Core i3 laptops and desktop boxes. Intel has a long partnership with Google's Chrome OS, stretching back to the original Chrombook prototype, the Cr-48, and part of today's announcements was that all the Chrome OS devices shown off at the event had their Intel chips made using conflict-free metals. The news marks the strongest commitment yet between the two companies Chromebooks are laptops for Google's Chrome-based operating system. They first debuted as a public prototype in late 2010, with the first Chromebook laptop reaching consumers six months later. The currently comprise a quarter of the sub-$300 market, and [chromebooks] are used in more than 10,000 schools across the US --up from 5,000 half a year ago...."Leaked Google Stars Video and Screenshots Show New Features: "Google is building a favoriting service called Google Stars that will let users save, share, and organize Web content. The company is testing a wide array of features for Stars, as depicted in a video and screenshots leaked out today (previous leaks only included marketing images and mockups)...."